The Mississippi Capitol Police, which shot four people in the first few months of an expanded crime-suppression mission in the city of Jackson, has issued new guidelines for when officers can use force against the public.
The state agency quietly revised its use-of-force rules in late April, after NBC News found that it had deployed aggressive street units last summer without modernizing policies to reflect its new mission.
The new use-of-force policy, which covers the Capitol Police and other agencies under the Department of Public Safety, mirrors some changes embraced by American police departments in recent years. It includes a “duty to intervene” to prevent another officer from using excessive force. It also adds the widely adopted “objectively reasonable” standard — established in a U.S. Supreme Court decision outlining what a typical officer would do in the same circumstance — to measure what kind of force is acceptable.
The old policy was written in 2006, when the agency primarily provided security at government buildings. Experts said it included confusing and inconsistent language that likely made it hard for officers to understand what was allowed.
All of the shootings, including the killing of a young father, remain under investigation. No officers have been disciplined in any of them. State officials have declined to comment or release information about the shootings until the state Attorney General’s Office decides whether to pursue criminal charges against any of the officers.
The changes come as the Capitol Police amasses more power in Jackson. On July 1, its jurisdiction will broaden beyond a district surrounding downtown to encompass the entire city. The buildup was made possible by a Republican-backed state law, passed in March, that was opposed by most elected leaders in the Democrat-led, majority-Black city. Civil rights groups are suing to block the law from taking effect, saying it discriminates against residents of Jackson.
Sean Tindell, the commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, has acknowledged problems with the Capitol Police’s 17-year-old policies. In addition to revising the use-of-force policy, he has said the agency is updating many other policies, including a contradictory one on car chases, also dating to 2006.
The changes are an attempt to bring the Capitol Police in closer alignment with national standards, Tindell said in an interview. “The original policy for Capitol Police was instituted in September of 2006, and, obviously, many things have evolved since then,” Tindell said.
Experts said the revised use-of-force policy was a big improvement.
“It’s certainly better than what they had before,” said Robert Pusins, a retired major for the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, police department and now a consultant.
But the experts also found flaws.
Pusins said use-of-force policies should require officers to use de-escalation techniques whenever possible to avoid using force. The new Capitol Police policy does not mention de-escalation.
Chris Burbank, a former police chief in Salt Lake City and a consultant for the Center for Policing Equity, which helps agencies reduce the use of force, pointed out that the new use-of-force policy does not ban chokeholds, which restrict breathing, or “lateral vascular neck restraints,” which restrict blood flow to the brain. The new policy also says an officer “has no obligation to retreat or back down before resorting to approved use of force, including lethal force.” Such a provision is not uncommon, experts say.
That, and a provision that allows officers to shoot at or from moving cars under certain circumstances, left the Capitol Police open to unnecessary risks — and fewer opportunities to hold accountable officers who use deadly force, Burbank said.
“It’s a fine policy but doesn’t do anything to improve the trust and confidence of the public that we’re trying to gain,” Burbank said.
Jim Bueermann, a retired chief of police in Redlands, California, and former head of the National Police Foundation, now known as the National Policing Institute, a nonprofit research organization, said the new policy didn’t go far enough in giving officers the option of avoiding a chase or other confrontation that could result in someone — the officer, a suspect or a member of the public — getting killed.
“Any time they believe someone is shooting at them, the officers would probably be able to articulate compliance with the policy by simply defending themselves as opposed to just backing off,” Bueermann said.
Tindell said that the new policy seeks to discourage firing during car chases and using chokeholds, but acknowledges that there might be “exceptional circumstances” — in which someone’s life is in danger — when they may be necessary. He also pointed out that the new policy requires an annual review of all use-of-force incidents to identify patterns.
The Capitol Police released its new use-of-force policy in response to a public records request. It did not include any redactions. That was a change from earlier this year, when the agency redacted much of its 2006 use-of-force policy — and its 2006 car-chase policy — before providing a copy. Experts said the redactions were unusual and could make it harder for the Capitol Police to appear transparent with the public. The experts have also criticized the Capitol Police for not publishing its policies online.
The new use-of-force policy prohibits officers from turning off their body cameras. But the Capitol Police has not equipped the vast majority of its officers with body cameras — about 11 out of 130 officers have them. The agency also has not installed dashboard cameras in its patrol cars. Both types of cameras are considered standard equipment for investigating officers’ use of force and building public trust.
Tindell has said he plans to issue body cameras to all Capitol Police officers with money provided in the new state budget. The agency is reviewing proposals from vendors, he said.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
